USING QUOTATIONS

General Guidelines

Use quotations to support a point you have made.

Avoid using too many quotations or unnecessarily long ones.

Make sure that your quotes provide critical analysis.

Do not refer to your quote as a quote within the text of your paper.

Make sure your citation and punctuation are correct.

Do Not Use Quotations That . . .

reiterate or summarize plot.

Ex. “Walton and Frankenstein meet in the mysterious white world of the ice-bound Artic” (Goldberg 277).

state fact. Ex. “Mary Shelley was only

nineteen when she wrote Frankenstein” (Abbey 245).

Do Not Use Quotations that. . .

come from an unacceptable source.

Ex. According to my mother, “Frankenstein is a wonderful horror story.”

Ex. Cliff’s Notes say, “Frankenstein has stirred the imagination of generations of readers” (16).

All quotes must be introduced or integrated.

Introduced Quote: Critic Richard Horne asserts, “The

monster created by Frankenstein is also an illustration of the embodied consequences of our actions” (261).

Integrated Quote: More than anything else the novel

functions as “an illustration of the embodied consequences of our actions” (Horne 261).

Quote That Is Not Introduced or Integrated is a Floating

Quote

Frankenstein shows what happens when man forgets his responsibility to his fellow man. “The monster created by Frankenstein is also an illustration of the embodied consequences of our actions” (Horne 261).

DO NOT USE A FLOATING QUOTE – EVER!!!!

Introducing Quotes You may introduce a quote with a verb such as “says,” but you should also look for other verbs that add variety (i. e. “comments,” “notes,” “asserts,” “claims”).

Example: Robert Walton claims, “I had rather die than return shamefully, my purpose unfulfilled” (Shelley 160).

Note: If you introduce with a verb, you must put a comma after the verb.

Introducing QuotesYou may also introduce a quote with a

sentence and a colon.

Example: Robert Walton reveals his unbridled

ambition when he discusses the prospect of abandoning his journey: “I had rather die than return shamefully, my purpose unfulfilled” (Shelley 160).

Caution: Do not use a colon unless the words before it constitute a complete sentence and the quote is a logical support for that sentence.

Capitalization Rules for Introducing Quotes

All introduced quotes should begin with a capital letter.

If the quote you are introducing does not begin with a capital letter in its original form, you must change lower case to upper case. Anytime you make changes to a direct quotation, you must use brackets [ ] to show that you have made a change.

(See examples on next slide)

Changing Quotations Nitchie observes, “The monster himself is

the earliest creation of Mary’s and is probably her best, most subtle, most perceptive characterization” (275).

(the original quote began with a capital letter so nothing is changed)

Nitchie notes, “[T]he earliest creation of the monster is probably her most complete characterization due to her attention to detail in her vivid descriptions” (275).

(the original quote did not begin with a capital letter so the brackets signify the change that was made)

Integrating Quotes Integrating the quote means making the

quoted material part of your own sentence.

Example:

The novel illustrates “the embodied consequences of our actions” in the form of the monster himself (Horne 261).

NOTE – THE CITATION IS AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE, NOT AT THE END OF THE QUOTED

MATERIAL.

Mechanics for Integrating Quotes

When you integrate a quote, you are making it part of your

sentence; as a result, you may have to make some changes in the

quote itself.

The next 2 slides show changes that are sometimes necessary when the quote is

integrated.

Integrating Quotes -Capitalization

Integrated quotes may require that a capital letter be put in lower case.

Example: He evokes our sympathy because “[t]he monster has the perception and desire of goodness, but is delivered over to evil” (Birkhead 266).

Note: The position of “the” in the sentence does not require a capital letter. Since it was capitalized in the

original quote, the brackets denote the change.

Integrating Quotes - Change in Verb Tense or in Person

Because the integrated quote is part of your own sentence, you may have to change verb tenses and/or person in order to maintain consistency.

Quote: Victor states, "The forms of the beloved dead flit before me, and I hasten to their arms” (Shelley 162).

Integrated: Victor confides to Walton that “[t]he forms of the beloved dead flit before [him], and [he] hasten[s] to their arms” (Shelley 162).

Parenthetical Documentation

If the author of the quote is not identified before the quote begins, place author name and page number of the quote in parentheses after the quote and put the period after the parentheses.

If the author is identified before you begin the quote, put only the page number on which you found the quote in parentheses and then the period after the parentheses.

Quote within a Quote When quoting someone who is quoting someone else, show that it is a quote within a quote by using a single

quotation mark inside the double quotation marks. When quoting only the dialogue from a book, you do not need to

put quotes within quotes.

No quote within quote needed: The narrator sadly recalls Frankenstein’s last words: “Farewell, Walton! Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition” (Shelley 162).

Quote within quote needed: Birkhead rationalizes, “Frankenstein’s last words ‘Farewell, Walton! Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition’ are used as a true ending to the novel as well as a symbolic ending of the doctor’s innocence”(84).

EllipsesSometimes it is desirable to leave out part of a quote. When you do so, you must use an ellipses to show where you have left out the words.

With Ellipses:Horne asserts, “The monster . . . is also an illustration of the embodied consequences of our actions” (271).

Original:Horne asserts, “The monster created by Frankenstein and shunned by society is also an illustration of the embodied consequences of our actions” (261).

EllipsesEllipses are typed with a space between

each period (. . .)

Ellipses are usually not necessary at the beginning of your quote. If it seems as if you need ellipses at the beginning of an introduced quote, it is probably a better option to integrate the quote.

Ellipses are necessary if you take words out of the middle of the quote and if you end the introduced quote before the end of a sentence.

Note: If the author you are quoting uses ellipsis points, you should distinguish them from your ellipses by putting square brackets around the ones you add.

Long Quotations

In general you should avoid long quotations, but if you do use a quotation longer than 4 lines, you must indent the entire quote 2 tabs, do not use quotation marks, and put the period at the end of the sentence - before the parenthetical documentation.

Avoiding Long QuotationsParaphrase the material: You can use

the ideas of the critic but put the ideas in your own words. A paraphrase should be the same length or longer than the original.

Summarize the material: Summarize the material when you need to say in a sentence or two what the author has said in a paragraph or two. The summary is shorter than the original.

With a paraphrase or a summary, you do not use quotation marks; however, the information must be introduced and must have documentation afterwards.

Quoting Poetry

Quoting poetry is somewhat different from quoting prose.

If you quote more than one line of poetry, you need to use a slash mark (/) to show where the line breaks are.

Example. As he is dying, Beowulf says, “I sold my life / For this treasure, and I sold it well” (806-07) .Line #’s

Punctuation is space / space.

Quoting Poetry

When you are quoting poetry, you set in 2 tabs when you

have more than 3 lines. When you set the lines in, you type

the poetry exactly as it appears on the page;

therefore, you will not need the slash marks.

A Final Word

Quotes are used for support of points you are making. Make

sure that they do indeed support the points and that they

are smoothly woven into your writing. You may need to follow

the quote with some explanation, but do not insult your reader by simply telling

him what the quote says.